I spoke to the Baccus Marsh ranger this morning and confirmed the Ironbark Gorge track leading to Falcons Lookout is currently closed due to loose rock and erosion. A contractor is scheduled to begin repair works though a start and end date are yet to be confirmed.

On 25/02/2011 Miguel75 wrote:>I spoke to the Baccus Marsh ranger this morning and confirmed the Ironbark>Gorge track leading to Falcons Lookout is currently closed due to loose>rock and erosion. A contractor is scheduled to begin repair works though>a start and end date are yet to be confirmed.>

Has been closed since the floods and the info has been on the PV website since that time along with the You Yangs closures. Staughton Vale is the only site in that general area opened.

On 25/02/2011 harold wrote:>So anyone been out there? Just skirt around the edge of the paddocks instead?> I have Tuesday off and keen to go for a few climbs, but don't want to>piss of the rangers too much I guess.

Skirting around the edge of the paddocks is on private land. The reason the access track was originally realigned was because the farmer/owner didn't want climbers going on his land. Respect his wishes please and yeah, lets not piss the rangers off too much. I have been in contact with the head ranger of the area so will continue to chase this up.

Fair enough then, but seems fairly lame overkill. Especially the You Yangs. I could have asbestos removal happening next door to my house and life goes on, but a culvert breaks in the bush and an area the size of your average town is shut down?? Totally lame but unfortunately totally to be expected.

On 25/02/2011 gfdonc wrote:>Yes I agree and I'm hoping, Tracey, you might present this point of view>to Parks.>>We got some rain (a perfectly natural and normal event, except we haven't>seen much the past 10 years) and a large amount of public land is no longer>available for public access.>>The slow reopening of the Grampians after the bushfires gives reason to>be concerned.>

>No National Park can be declared 'safe' in any conditions. There is risk>of snakebite for example. New hazards should be appropriately signposted>and access maintained.>

Hi Steve,

I understand what you are saying Steve and I am in contact with the rangers of various parks. There are a variety of reasons in all of the parks as to why there are closures and yes, some more understandable than others. While they are required, legally and for insurance purposes to assess the areas for risk to the public before re-opening, there is also a huge amount of damage to the roads and tracks that while could take a random person or so walking it will not fare well with larger amounts of people and cars. Added to this, because of this event, the Park staff don't get anymore staff on board. That is not in the budget. For me, I get to hear the whole story, the work they have been doing, the amount of people that they have to do it and the money, or more to the point, the lack of money they have to do it. What the rest of the climbers get to hear is a more concise version without all of these extras. I often start writing an indepth report and then know people just often want to know - yes its open, or no its not. But its not the whole story and maybe people don't really care.
Much of the staff in the Bacchus Marsh PV office have been dealing with the You Yangs. Frustrating also for them - a number of weeks ago, I spoke to a liason ranger and he was pleased that it looked like that weekend the park would be open for the general public. Two days later, they discovered the asbestos in all of the damaged pipes. Whether a neighbours house has asbestos in it(see Harolds post) and they only close off their houseand not the surrounding houses is irrelevant. This is a park for public access and these are the rules they are required to abide by when it comes to asbestos containment and removal. What we are waiting for now is for the contractors to do their work. Once thats done, it will be open.
I will be putting further info up on the Grampians soon - most lilkely there will be unhappy people if this thread about Werribee is anything to go by. I visited one of the sites of landslide and I have not seen anything like it before. There is extensive damage with huge tracts of unstable ground, new waterways that have been created. Much of this works is VicRoads and I don't envy them one bit. It is a mammoth job to undertake. Having said that there are also areas that they are working on now to be open by Easter. And this includes climbing areas.

Werribee Gorge I would imagine is not one of the long term closures - if anyone is interested in helping out with some trackwork to get this done sooner rather than later, feel free to drop me a lline and I shall let the Ranger know that I have a crew of people happy to pitch in and get the access to the climbing area opened as soon as possible.

On 25/02/2011 Access T wrote:>Werribee Gorge I would imagine is not one of the long term closures ->if anyone is interested in helping out with some trackwork to get this>done sooner rather than later, feel free to drop me a lline and I shall>let the Ranger know that I have a crew of people happy to pitch in and>get the access to the climbing area opened as soon as possible.>

Anyone else able to offer time to help rebuild the Werribee Gorge track?

I have been told that the access track to Falcons Lookout is now open. There are some works still being undertaken so they are asking to take care. I visited the PV website but at the moment the change of conditions still note closure.

On 4/03/2011 access t wrote:>I have been told that the access track to Falcons Lookout is now open.> There are some works still being undertaken so they are asking to take>care. I visited the PV website but at the moment the change of conditions>still note closure.

Can anyone confirm that Falcons lookout(Werribee Gorge) track and climbing area is open.